The Legend of Those Other Guys: A Zelda 5E Campaign Journal

[Kira_the_5th]

My group recently became interested in trying out 5th Edition D&D, and after I found Ninjadeadbread's wonderful Zelda Campaign Setting, we decided to give it a try. After about three sessions, I've started writing everything down in an attempt to make an entertaining campaign journal (as well as give my players a convenient source of info on what's happened so far.) For more info on the setting we're using, there's a link here. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18566240&postcount=262)

The Legend of Those Other Guys

It has been 100 years since the fateful day when the cycle of heroic reincarnation was broken, shattering both the Triforce and the peaceful stability of the kingdom of Hyrule. With rival nobles all vying for the Hyrulean Throne, and the threat of civil war on the horizon, the Wardens of Hyrule have called for a Grand Tournament, a peaceful competition between the warring factions meant to ease the tensions between the states of Hyrule. Drawn by the hopes of stopping a war, seeking glory, and the prizes the tournament promises, six heroes make their way toward Lon Lon City to participate in the tournament…

Our Cast:
Jibben (pronounced Yib-ben): A young Shiekah Bard seeking stories. Jibben is traveling along with his friend Saviha in order to chronicle this age’s greatest heroes. Jibben also carries a fragment of a lost song, seeking the song’s origins and meaning.
Saviha Lorelei (pronounced Sah-vee-yah): A Shiekah Monk acting as the Shiekah representative in the Grand Tournament. Saviha’s calm and serene demeanor belie her love for violence. Saviha is eager to show her combat skill in the tournament.
“Hamdaan Syed” (pronounced Hah-m-dah-n): A fairly young Gerudo Sorcerer who conned his way into the tournament. Hamdaan claims that he was sent by Dame Tikla of Adjure Sanctuary, to the south of the Gerudo lands. This, however, along with his entire identity, is a carefully forged lie. Hamdaan really seeks to join the tournament to show his worth, and to prove wrong the Gerudo who would shun him because of his youth and sex. Spoiler alert: Hamdaan is totally not his real name.
Boletan, son of Boletan (Bowl-tahn): Many were surprised to see that the Goron representative to the competition was not one of their many warriors, but instead the bookish Boletan; son of a Goron chief and Court Wizard of the Gorons. Boletan is a quiet Goron, content to settle down for a good drink. He has a deathly fear of the ocean.
Rusl (Russel): A Champion Fighter archer sent as representative of the Hyrule Highlands. Rusl normally works for the Rito postal service as a part-timer involved in trading chains, but his work came to a halt when the package he had meant to deliver was stolen out from under him. After tracking the thief towards Lon Lon City, Rusl petitioned to be the Highlands representative for the games, and began tracking the thief from within the tournament.
Aleph Cramhen (Alf): A young Hylian Battlemaster Fighter whose family have been members of the Wardens of Hyrule since their founding. He seeks to live up to his family’s legacy, which considering that many of them died before reaching their forties, doesn’t seem too hard to Aleph. He is terrified of spiders.

Our story begins in the Wardens Inn, where the contestants for the Grand Tournament have gathered to check-in to their rooms and to the tournament. While waiting for the registration to begin, Hamdaan began to strike up conversation with the only other Gerudo there, a stern-looking woman by the name of Aisha. As it turned out, Aisha was the actual Gerudo representative, and was immediately suspicious of Hamdaan’s story about being sent as a representative of the Southern Gerudo Desert. A timely intervention from Jibben, however, managed to preserve Hamdaan’s con. When asked why he covered for a complete stranger, Jibben merely said “Because I want to see everyone able to compete.”

Immediately after his registration was complete, Rusl set to the town to search for more information regarding his missing package. After asking around, Rusl heard accounts of a Shiekah in antiquated clothing being spotted stealing other packages in town, and that the Wardens were currently looking for the suspect. Rusl’s anger soon got the better of him, leading him to pick a fight with the first pair of Shiekah carrying a package he found. Those Shiekah happened to be Jibben and Saviha, returning from a supply run. After a brief confrontation, Saviha explained to Rusl that Shiekah hadn’t worn clothing like what Rusl had described in over 100 years. Rusl left, somewhat embarrassed at his outburst, while Saviha lamented not being able to punch the Hylian’s lights out.

Back at the Warden Inn, Jibben made it a point to meet each of the other competitors in the tournament. Among those at the tavern were Bido, a good-natured (if musically talentless) Kokiri performing on stage; Hrothgar, the jovial, though boisterous prince of Northern Hyrule; Jeremy, a nervous teenage hunter sent as Southern Hyrule’s representative; and Damien, dour prince of the Hyrule Marshlands. The final competitor at registration, Ellie Hills of Northern Hyrule, wasn’t around, while the Zora representative failed to show up entirely. With the contest looming the next morning, all of the competitors went off to bed as to be prepared for the games the next day.

[Kira_the_5th]

Episode 1: The Grand Hylian Games
The competitors arrived early the next morning at the Lon Lon Arena for the games, cheered on by the growing crowd. After introductions, the leader of the Wardens of Hyrule, Tetra Vel, announced the first event of the day: Cucco Catching. Each competitor had one minute to wrangle as many Cuccos into a pen as they possibly could. With the aid of his familiar and skillful use of Mage Hand, Boletan was able to seize victory along with a bottle of Red Potion. While his plan of “Create an illusion of another Cucco being attacked” didn’t work as well as Hamdaan had intended, it still allowed him to come out on top of Aisha’s score, which suited him just fine.

After an hour’s break for lunch, over which Rusl and Jibben made up for their argument the previous day, the competitors arrived back in the arena to discover a group of targets set up across the field. While many of the competitors were lured in by the siren song of the points offered by the most difficult target, Rusl won the contest though a careful combination of shots he was confident in taking along with a few risky gambles. After Rusl was awarded with a small quiver of six magical arrows, the competitors began to prepare for the next event, the Joust. Or, at least most of them did. Hamdaan snuck off after muttering something about “conceding this one” and “needing to find more spell components.”

While Hamdaan was away fetching his spell components, the other competitors assembled for the joust. Rusl kept on his momentum, blazing through his half of the bracket, while Saviha used her skill to unhorse opponents despite her lack of training with a lance. When the two faced each other in the finals, the pair shattered almost two dozen lances against each other before Rusl finally managed to unhorse Saviha with a perfectly placed strike. Rusl was awarded his second prize, the warhorse that he rode in the match, as well as a saddle etched with magical runes which would keep the rider from being unhorsed. The far more valuable prize, however, was Rusl finally earning the respect of Saviha. The group went back together to the Warden Inn for drinks and the final event of the night.

At the Warden Inn, each of the competitors set up for the final event of the night; an evening of performances from each of the competitors. Aisha sang an old Gerudo ballad, and while her performance itself was a bit lacking in skill, the exotic novelty of the performance earned her quite a few fans. Boletan told an ancient legend of his people, speaking of the Lost Hero’s triumph against the dragon Volvagia. Ellie mesmerized the audience with a beautiful dance, while Hrothgar told the tale of his ancestor’s valiant fight against the King of Wolfos. Finally, Jibben stood and sang a ballad of his own invention, singing of the glories of heroes long past. When Jibben’s ballad was finished, the enraptured audience awarded him with the Fairy Ocarina. Jibben’s mind, however, was not on his new prize; When Tetra Vel, leader of the Wardens, concluded the evening’s performances with a song of her own, Jibben recognized the melody. The song etched onto the piece of paper he had held for years, unfinished, was being played in front of him. After the concert, Jibben, alongside Saviha and Rusl, went out into the town to try and find Ms. Vel. After a brief and unsuccessful search, however, the trio retreated back to the Warden Inn to rest for the next day’s events.

[Kira_the_5th]

Episode 2: Competition and Combat
The next morning, Jibben sat out of the Horseback Archery event, trying instead to gain audience with Tetra as she officiated the competition. Using the new magic afforded to him by his ocarina, Jibben snuck into the announcer’s booth to speak with Tetra. While the Warden leader was initially shocked by Jibben’s sudden appearance, she was impressed by Jibben’s ingenuity. Sensing the young Shiekah had a good reason for sneaking in to see her, she offered to answer any questions Jibben might have. While Lady Vel couldn’t place the exact nature of the song, only that it was an old family lullabye, she offered to give Jibben a written copy of the song at the conclusion of the tournament. Jibben left the announcer’s booth and returned to the field just in time to see Rusl win the horseback archery event.

The days events did not stay on track for long, however. The bull-riding event was cancelled suddenly when several horses broke loose from the corrals, and the Strongman competition soon became a competition of who could cheat the contest most effectively. In the end, however, all of the cheating was in vain; even while cheating, none could match Saviha’s sheer speed, even while encumbered by the heavy boulder. By the time the final event of the tournament, the Grand Melee, was about to begin, only Jibben noticed that Tetra Vel was not in attendance at the announcer’s booth, while Hamdaan noticed that Aisha was also not in the arena. It was only Rusl, however, who heard the sound of hoofbeats over the roar of the crowd.

Just before the match was set to begin, a group of Bulbins riding giant boars burst into the arena, each carrying nets and shortbows. Havok broke loose in the arena; some of the competitors sprung forward to fight the intruders while others helped the crowd flee to safety. While Boletan and Saviha rushed to free a captured Hrothgar from the Bulbins’ nets, Hamdaan slipped into the announcer’s booth to find a more effective weapon. Inside the booth, Hamdaan grabbed the first things he could find from the prize display case; a carved wooden sword and an empty glass bottle. Returning to the fray, Hamdaan swung the sword wildly at the attacking Bulbins, only to be surprised when bolts of light erupted forth from the blade of the sword. Rusl led Jeremy firing expert shots to knock the Bulbins from their mounts. When one of the boars charged towards Saviha, Jibben cast a spell of blindness over the beast, causing it to careen into the stone walls around the barricade. Once the Bulbins were slain and the boars pacified, the Wardens remained in a state of chaos. When Aleph questioned one of his fellow Wardens, the party learned that Tetra Vel had gone missing from her quarters.

Inside Lady Vel’s quarters, the party discovered signs of a struggle. Upon further investigation, Boletan discovered a scrap of cloth, matching ancient Shiekah designs, beneath Lady Vel’s desk. Jibben and Saviha thought it best to defer to the Impa, leader of the Shiekah, about the meaning of the cloth, while Rusl and Aleph wanted to track down Lady Vel’s kidnapper and the Shiekah in ancient garb, now thought to be one in the same. While Hamdaan would have preferred to follow Aisha back into the Gerudo desert, he was not terribly keen on returning alone. With the party in agreement to travel to Kakariko, a plan was set to leave in the morning.

The next morning, the party took the road towards Ingot, capital of the Hyrule Highlands. Along the way, Hamdaan and Boletan bonded over conversations about how to best use the magical bottle Hamdaan “acquired” during the tournament. Around the point they settled on bottling sunlight to keep as a constant light source, their conversation was interrupted by a narrow-miss arrow shot. The party was ambushed on the road by a group of Stalfos, who were quickly subdued by the group. Before the party had a chance to rest, however, as the monsters’ leader soon struck. Appearing behind the group, a Wizrobe blasted the party with a spray of ice, nearly incapacitating several of the party. The Wizrobe warped from tree to tree along the road, evading arrows and spells alike. With a stroke of inspiration, however, Boletan turned the tide. Using his mighty Goron Roll, Boletan slammed into the tree the Wizrobe was perched in, knocking the monster mage from his roost. Saviha rushed forward before the wizard could regain his momentum and pummeled the Wizrobe into the ground. Searching the area, however, the party could not discover the Stalfos’ origin. Hamdaan handed the Wooden Sword to Aleph, claiming that the young Warden would be better suited to wielding it. With an added sense of alertness, the party hurried on towards Ingot.

The first thing the party spotted upon nearing Ingot was the pair of massive stone statues overlooking Lake Hylia. While the statues looked remarkably similar to the late Princess Zelda, Rusl pointed out that the statues were actually of the current lord, Her Imperial Highness Inara Zelda Hyrule. When Boletan brought up the rumors that Lady Inara’s desire for more monuments would lead to the entire city collapsing into the lake, Rusl assured the goron that those were just jokes and old wives’ tales. He hoped.

While the others were obtaining a room at the inn and a bottle full of sunshine, Rusl went to the royal palace in order to report the results of the tournament and the events surrounding it. Lady Inara was extremely pleased to hear of Rusl’s great success during the tournament, but worryingly more pleased at the news of Tetra Vel’s disappearance. Rusl, familiar with Lady Inara’s previous failed campaign to annex Lon Lon and worried about her plans for the future, took his leave before being roped into any more trouble with the Her Imperial Highness.

The next morning, before the party would set out for Kakariko, they spotted a strange sight down by the shore of Lake Hylia; a group of people with a massive cannon aimed over the lake, and signs which read “Skyloft Reclaimation League: Join Today!”

[arcane_asp]

I'm liking this journal so far, drawing on a good mixture of Zelda lore :smallsmile:

[Kira_the_5th]

I'm liking this journal so far, drawing on a good mixture of Zelda lore :smallsmile:

Thank you! Comments are always appreciated! Anyway, this week's update, now with 100% more dungeons!


Episode 3: Sheikah Temple Trials
As the group passed the display, Jibben asked Rusl just exactly was going on in the archer’s hometown. As it turns out, the Skyloft Reclamation League was a group that sought to find the mythical lost city of Skyloft, specifically by using the giant cannon by the shore of Lake Hylia to launch themselves into the skies. Rusl explained that he had dealings with them before, delivering supplies and several scrolls of Feather Fall. Boletan was all for trying out the cannon, claiming “we Gorons are natural cannonballs!” At least, he was until he noticed that the cannon pointed out over the lake. The party decided that it was a better idea to just give the League a wide berth and make for Kakariko before someone found themselves becoming ammunition.

The road to Kakariko was considerably quieter than the road to Ingot. Largely, it would seem, because of the preponderance of Highlands guards patrolling the roads. Rusl flagged one of the guards down, and the party learned the reason the roads had been so thoroughly secured. Lady Inara, having heard about the attacks on both Lon Lon City and on the road to Ingot, had marshaled all available troops into active duty to patrol the Highlands. Saviha chalked it up to Lady Inara’s “excitable” nature, and the party was nonetheless pleased that their trip would at least be uneventful.

Around noontime, the party arrived in Kakariko village, and beelined for the Sheikah temple (as much as Boletan wanted to pick up lunch and a drink first). As they passed through the town and the graveyard beyond, Jibben explained to the others the origins of the Sheikah hideout. Long ago it was a temple that sealed away a great evil, and that after the Hero vanquished the evil inside did the place become a gathering place for the Sheikah. Inside the reworked temple, Jibben met up with Ezra, an old acquaintance. Ezra explained to Jibben that he and Saviha would have to face the standard challenges of anyone who wished to speak with the Impa, as would their new friends. Accepting the challenge, the group crossed over the threshold of the Impa’s chambers, ready to face the trials within.

Stepping into the first room, the party encountered only a dead end. Investigating the room, however, showed that the far wall was an illusion, leading into a larger, octagonal room beyond. As the party entered the main room, two monsters on the other side of the chamber looked up and began to shamble forward. Jibben had just about enough time to yell out “ReDeads!” before he and Saviha were frozen in fear by the monsters’ icy stares. Rusl and Hamdaan fired arrows and fire bolts at the monsters in an attempt to halt their advance, while Boletan and Aleph ran forward to attack. Aleph swung the Wooden Sword towards one of the ReDeads, and the radiant beam of energy cut deeply into the beast. Saviha managed to break free of her fear and rushed towards the weakened ReDead. She struck the ReDead across the side of its head with her staff before planting the staff into the ground and vaulting forward. With a savage double kick, the ReDead collapsed to the ground in a crumpled heap. The other was quickly felled by a coordinated blast of magic from Jibben and Hamdaan. With the ReDeads defeated, the party examined the room. Three doors; one to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead, stood in the walls. Not knowing which way to go, Jibben implored the fates to show him the safest path, and chose the middle door at random. Jibben opened the door, only to find another, bigger, stone door behind it, ornately carved with Sheikah symbols and sealed with an intricate lock. “Well,” Jibben said, examining the door, “I wanted the safest path, and I suppose this is technically right…” Saviha sighed and chose the door on the right.

Stepping into the righthand room, the group was met with the sound of flowing water. A small boat rested in a canal about eighty feet across, while three small podiums sat on the far shore. Near the door, the group found three large straw effigies; one of a Wolfos, one of a sheep, and one of a bale of hay. Jibben immediately recognised the riddle, and quickly began moving the sheep effigy into the rowboat, much to the confusion of the others. When the three effigies had been safely moved across the water, Jibben placed them on the pedestals. When the three pedestals had been filled, a trapdoor in the ceiling dropped a small chest in front of Jibben, containing an ornate key which matched the door that they had found.

Heading back to the ornate stone door, Saviha mused to the others as to what the other room was for. Her question was immediately answered when Jibben slid the key into the stone door, dropping both the door and the key into the floor to reveal another, equally intricate stone door behind it. Her question explained, Saviha went back and opened the door on the left.

As Saviha opened the door to the left, a breeze of fetid air swept forth from out of the strangely drafty room. Inside the room were several waist-high barricades surrounding the middle of the room, and two winged skulls, wreathed in flame, flapping clumsily on the far side. While the rest of the group were preoccupied with the two flying skull monsters, Boletan noticed the strange airflow of the room. However, he couldn’t see anywhere the wind could be coming from. Hamdaan struck first, shooting a bolt of flame at one of the monsters. Hamdaan’s blast only served to make the Bubble angry, however. “Gee, the flaming skulls are immune to fire?” Rusl said sarcastically as he moved behind the cover of one of the walls. “I never would have guessed!” Rusl fired his bow at the Bubble to the left, only to discover that arrows weren’t exactly perfectly effective either. The Bubbles, taking notice of the intruders trying to attack them, responded in kind. Chattering in some ancient tongue, the monsters fired bolts of energy from their gaping mouths, homing in towards Saviha and Boletan. While Boletan’s Shield deflected the magic missiles, Saviha was less fortunate. She ran forward, looking to punch the Bubble in its stupid skeletal face. Saviha’s path was disrupted as she passed through the center of the room. An invisible blade struck into Saviha’s shoulder and sent her careening back to the wooden barricades. “There’s something invisible in the center of the room!” Saviha yelled to the others, just in time for Boletan to run straight toward the Bubbles with his hammer drawn. Relying on his personal wards to turn away the invisible spinning blades, Boletan struck down the first Bubble with a mighty blow from his warhammer. The surviving Bubble chattered fearfully before flapping back into a more defensive position. As it retreated, however, it shot another bolt of light towards the heroes, which suddenly exploded into a massive fireball! While Hamdaan and Aleph were able to avoid the brunt of the explosion, Rusl found himself straight in the middle of the blast. When the smoke cleared, Rusl stood at the center of the explosion mostly unharmed. The Gerudo cloak on his back, the one that he had one in the horseback archery competition, had warded away most of the fire. Aleph charged forward, again being struck by the spinning blades. Saviha groaned at her friends’ carelessness, then jumped into action. Using Jibben’s inspiring music to bolster her strength, Saviha unleashed a flurry of darts into the last remaining Bubble, bringing the monster to the ground.

The immediate danger dealt with, the group began to search the room, careful to avoid the invisible danger in the room’s center. At the far corner, Jibben found the body of a dead adventurer. The gaping wound in his back and the crack on his head seemed to indicate that he had been struck by the invisible blades before being thrown into the wall by the momentum. While his shirt was shredded by the blade, the messanger bag that he wore across his shoulder was still in good condition. Looking inside the bag, Boletan discovered the bag was, in fact, a Handy Haversack. More so, the bag was filled with more than 2000 rupees! Hearing the sweet, sweet sound of cash, Hamdaan rushed forward towards the loot. Straight into the center of the room, and into the whirling blades. “Greed doesn’t pay!” he lamented as the rest of the group pulled him from the room, along with the haversack and the newly found key. After a short rest in the central chamber, the party opened the second stone door and continued onward.

Just beyond the second stone door was a hallway lined with several guillotines dropping at regular intervals. Jibben drastically overestimated the time that he had to leap through the blades, and suffered a pretty nasty cut for his trouble. Boletan’s magic got the Goron through the first guillotine, but he was stopped in his tracks by the sound of another invisible guillotine hitting the ground centimeters away from his back.After a bit of cautious musing on the situation, Aleph got an idea. Taking the unbreakable Wooden Sword in hand, Aleph plunged the blade into the first mechanism, stopping the guillotine in its tracks. After stopping the other guillotines in such a manner, the party finally made their way through the final challenge. “There has to be a back entrance.” Jibben said, gingerly stepping through the final guillotine. “I mean, there’s no way the Impa goes through all of this every time she needs to leave this room.”

Saviha and Jibben stepped into the Impa’s chamber, with their friends following closely behind. Shortly after the group entered, a calm voice echoed from around the empty room. “Saviha, my chosen champion. It is good to see you back. And Jibben, I trust you kept Saviha from getting into too much trouble? What brings you and your new companions to see me?” Jibben explained the events that transpired at the Grand Hylian Games, mentioning the strange Sheikah in ancient garb. At the mention of this information, the Impa fell silent for a minute. Just as the group began to wonder what had happened, the Impa’s voice returned. “Jibben.” the voice spoke. “Have you heard in your studies of a group known as the Hand of Truth?” When Jibben said that he did not, the Impa continued. “The Sheikah have been, since the founding days of Hyrule, the guardians of the Royal Family. As you know, when the royal lineage was severed by Princess Zelda 100 years ago, the official decision of the Impa was to wait for a new dynasty to be chosen. The Hand of Truth, however, sought to restore the Royal Family through more extreme measures. They refuse to move on from the lost dynasty, and have kept the ancestral garb as a symbol of their devotion to their cause. While my agents seek out and stop any agents of the Hand that we uncover, finding and eliminating the root of the problem is significantly harder. They are Sheikah, after all. The few reports that I have on the Hand’s current activity is that they are seeking out certain rare and powerful artefacts, but for what purpose we still do not know. On that note,” the voice spoke. “Saviha, please step forward.”

As Saviha moved to the center of the room, a small metal object floated down from the ceiling into her hands. “This is a relic passed down the line of Impa since the time of the Hero; a symbol of the power of the Sages of old. The Hand of Truth seeks these relics, and so I leave it in your most capable protection.”

“But why am I carrying it? Wouldn’t it be more safe with you, Master?”

“Having the medallion moving makes it more difficult to find. After all, it is the worst kept secret of the Sheikah that I reside here in Kakariko. I would like you to travel Hyrule, and seek out the other five medallions. Prevent them from coming into the hands of the Hand of Truth. For those of you not of our tribe, I know that this is much for me to ask, but would you aid my two agents on this quest?”

“Sure.” Aleph said.

“If it helps me find the Hand and the one who stole from me.” Rusl said.

“Not like I can really go back to the Gerudo Desert right now.” Hamdaan said.

“Of course. In fact, I think I know a place where we can start.” Boletan claimed.

“Thank you very much for your support. The Sheikah will remember your aid and your bravery. Allow me to help you on your way.” With that, a small teleportation circle glowed to life in the center of the room, teleporting the party outside the Sheikah fortress. “Called it!” Jibben shouted.

The party returned to Jibben’s house to rest for the evening and determine what way they would be going in the morning in order to seek out the other medallions. Aleph had spent much of his youth reading stories of the Hero and of the Sages, and knew almost everything about the legendary Sages medallions. The Light Medallion had been lost many years ago in the ruins of Castle Town, and had never been recovered by archaeologists. The Forest Medallion was in the care of the Kokiri, somewhere deep in the Deku Woods. The Fire Medallion was in the care of the Gorons of Dragon Mountain, currently being used as a magical power source for Goron machinery, Boletan added. The Spirit Medallion was being held by Matriarch Jonue in the Gerudo fortress of Arbiter’s Keep. As for the Water Medallion, no one really knew what became of the Water Medallion. After the Sage of Water was slain by Ganondorf during the days before the Twilight Invasion, the Water Medallion was lost to time. As Boltan knew the exact location, the group decided that they would first pursue the Fire Medallion. The group planned to make for Dragon Mountain in the morning, and Hamdaan went out into the town for his normal evening job of performing street magic. On his way back, however, Hamdaan found himself being pulled into a back alley and throttled against a building wall. As he looked to his assailant, he was shocked to find Aisha standing over him.

“Hello, “Hamdaan.” Fancy seeing you here…”

[Kira_the_5th]

A quick update: Due to a major life event for two of our normal players, our group is taking a week off. As such, there won't be an update this week. Next update will probably be Tuesday, April 7th, once everything is settled down.

[GoblinGilmartin]

That's what I always tell people. A Zelda game can't work unless you remove the three main characters. The setting is called Legend of Zelda it exists to tell that one story. Seems like you did alright though.

[King of Casuals]

Im slightly dissapointed that no one played as a zora, as (in my humble opinion) the Zoras from Ocarina of Time are totally the coolest. The only reason that I havent played one with my group is that only like 3 of us have actually played any of the LoZ games.

[Kira_the_5th]

Im slightly dissapointed that no one played as a zora, as (in my humble opinion) the Zoras from Ocarina of Time are totally the coolest. The only reason that I havent played one with my group is that only like 3 of us have actually played any of the LoZ games.

I know! Rusl's player was a Rito in his initial incarnation, but he ended up switching to Hylian right before the first game. I'm still working out when the group is going to find the Zora, mostly because they know that the second it's available, OoT Water Temple shenanigans await them. Anyway, thank you for your patience. We're back to out regularly scheduled adventuring. I have two weeks' worth of sessions done, so the first will be going up tonight, and the second will be going up tomorrow once it's gone through editing.

Episode 4: A New Plan
Last time, on The Legend of Those Other Guys...
“Hello, “Hamdaan.” Fancy seeing you here…”

Hamdaan took a moment to regain his composure before swiftly attempting to retake control of the situation. “Aisha! Where were you during the tournament? What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you.” Aisha responded bluntly. “What are you doing here? Arbiter’s Keep was attacked Sunday night.”

“Uhh, maybe we should talk with the others about this…” Before Aisha could really react to what was going on, Hamdaan had already pulled her into the nearby tavern where the others were getting drinks.

“Why are all of you here?” Aisha asked, scanning the tavern and seeing the collected party.

“We were just about to ask you the same thing.” Jibben replied. “By the way, you might be wanted in Lon Lon City under suspicion of kidnapping Lady Tetra Vel during the monster attack.”

“Wait, there was a monster attack in Lon Lon?” Aisha asked, pulling up a chair. “I think we need to get on the same page here. I left Sunday morning after receiving a sending spell that Arbiter’s Keep was under attack by monsters. Now you’re telling me that Lon Lon City was also attacked, and that Lady Vel was kidnapped during the event.”

“Yes.” Jibben said. “We came to Kakariko to inform our leader about the incident. That still doesn't explain why you are here when the last we saw of you, you were riding the opposite direction towards your besieged capital.”

“When I got to Arbiter’s Keep, the monsters started to retreat. There was a break-in during the siege, and the beasts made off with an ancient relic of the Gerudo people, the Spirit Medallion. Our elder, Matriarch Jonue, called in our shamans to try and foresee why the relic would be taken, only to have them come up with a name, and a place. Hamdaan Syed, and Kakariko Village. So, I rode here, found this idiot, and now I need to know what exactly he’s up to.”

Hamdaan was quick with a reply, however. Drawing on his knowledge of cons, he swiftly turned the reply back at Aisha. “Oh, you know how inaccurate prophecies can be. It’s always “destined” this and “foretold” that. You can never tell what’s going on. All I’m doing is helping these guys track down the missing Tetra Vel and clear the names of both the Gerudo people and a certain deserter. Besides, if I was at Lon Lon, how could I have been involved in the attack? Now, if you’ll excuse us, we've had a long day, and we’d like to get back to our drinks.”

“I’ve got my eye on you, Syed…” Aisha said, as she left the bar, staring back at Hamdaan the entire time.

“So.” Jibben said, downing his drink. “I think we should get back to my place and plan our next move.” Back at Jibben’s house, the group decided to stay on course. Dragon Mountain, where the Fire Medallion was being kept, sat perilously close to the Gerudo Desert. If the Hand of Truth was pursuing the medallions, and the Gerudo stronghold of Arbiter’s Keep had already been attacked, Dragon Mountain was a likely next target. Certain that Aisha would be trying to track them down, Hamdaan and Boletan worked up a fake letter to the Impa, detailing the party’s plans to travel to the Deku Woods in search of the Forest Medallion. Boletan finished the ruse by adding a "secret" illusory script to the note, reading “We’re actually going to Lake Hylia to search for clues.” The decision was then made to leave town immediately, in order to reach Dragon Mountain as soon as possible. The party’s attempt to skip town was cut short, however, when several townsfolk ran past them in a panic as they walked towards the village gate. “Monsters!” The people cried. “Get to your houses!” From the ledge that the party stood on, they could see a large group of Stalfos running into the town through the gate, armed with rusty swords and cracked bows.

“Come on.” Jibben told the others. “I know a back way we can sneak out of town and get out of here.”

“But what about the monsters?” Rusl replied, readying his bow. “We can’t just let these monsters attack the town!”


“Look,” Jibben said as he started walking away, breaking into a melodramatic pose. “I love this town, and it’s my home. But if we don’t get those medallions, I’m sure that something much worse is going to happen. As much as it pains me to abandon my home in its time of need, I know in my heart that it is a sacrifice I have to make for the greater good of Hyrule. After all, what’s the point of saving Kakariko if all of Hyrule burns-” Jibben paused from his dramatic speech to look back to his friends, who had already run towards the village gate with weapons drawn. “Oh come on!” Jibben drew his sword and walked down the stairs. “Well, we may as well make this quick.”

As the party advanced towards the gate, the back rank of Stalfos took aim with their bows. As one of the arrows raced towards Hamdaan, Saviha was there to snatch the arrow straight from the air. Spinning the arrow around in her hand, Saviha let the arrow fly once more, shattering the skull of the Stalfos nearest to her. Saviha continued to press the attack, charging forward into the ranks alongside Aleph. While Saviha and Aleph fought from the frontlines, Rusl picked off several of the archers with well-aimed shots of his own.

Hamdaan’s aim, however, was much less on point. After missing the same Stalfos with about five separate scorching rays, the skeleton was felled by a foreign arrow. Looking down from a nearby rooftop and laughing was Aisha.

“I thought your aim was better than that, Hamdaan.” Aisha said, casually striking down another Stalfos with a Magic Missile.

“Oh, sure.” Hamdaan replied, firing a Magic Missile of his own. “It’s easy when you literally cannot miss.” Looking back to the rooftop, he found that Aisha had already left, denying him the satisfaction of a well-timed comeback.

The Stalfos didn’t last too long under the assault of Kakariko’s magnificent seven, and the group took no time afterwards to flee the city before Aisha could catch up with them. The party traveled through the night across the Hyrule Highlands, riding into Lon Lon as dawn broke. Worried at the time they already lost fighting in Kakariko as well as Hamdaan’s fear that Aisha would still be pursuing him, the party decided to push straight through and into the Hyrule Marshlands towards Dragon Mountain.

After about an hour of travel through the swampy Hyrule Marshlands, Boletan spotted a group of soldiers guarding the bridge ahead. When the party approached to cross the bridge, however, things quickly went south.

“May I see your travel papers?” One of the guards said, as another looked the party over.

“Papers? Why would we need papers?” Jibben asked, warily eyeing the several crossbowmen readying their weapons on the far side of the bridge.

“Because due to the aggression of Lady Inara Hyrule sending her soldiers closer and closer to Lon Lon, we’re officially at war. Now where are your papers?”

“Hey, boss.” The second guard said, patting his leader on the shoulder. “That guy there. Isn’t he the Highlands Champion, the one that was winning the Grand Hylian Games? And he’s got a Gerudo with him!” Rusl shifted uncomfortably in the seat of his warhorse, feeling a bit awkward that this was what fame would get him. Hamdaan merely stared at the guards, thinking up which way of calling them racist would work best. “Now now, there’s no need for anyone to get hurt.” Jibben said, trying to defuse the rapidly escalating situation. “If everyone would just calm down-”

*TWANG*

Just as Jibben took a crossbow bolt to the chest, battle broke out on both sides.

Rusl wasted no time, jumping his horse across the river and slicing into one of the crossbowmen his his saber. While the crossbowmen were panickedly firing at the rider before them, Jibben pulled the crossbow bolt out of his armor as he stepped back. Staring the lead guard in the eye, Jibben spoke an invocation and began to turn the guard’s heavy chainmail red-hot. As the soldier screamed in pain, Aleph charged forward, striking the guard with his halberd, knocking him into the cold river and shattering his armor. “Cool off.” Aleph quipped. Saviha shot him an icy glance as she punched another of the guards in the face.

Seeing Rusl having trouble with the crossbowmen, Boletan rolled up and launched himself over a crest on the riverbank, landing on the other side and striking into one of the two remaining crossbowmen with his staff. Rusl charged forward, felling another with his saber.

Seeing their contingent utterly decimated, the two remaining Marshlands soldiers threw down their weapons in surrender. “Please don’t kill us!” they shouted.

“Don’t worry.” Jibben said, checking to make sure that his armor completely caught the crossbow bolt. “We won’t. So long as you give us your traveling papers.”

“We’re soldiers of the Marshlands!” one of the prisoners was quick to reply. “We don’t need traveling papers! Our armor is proof of our position.” As the group looked him over, the guard realized his words. “I should not have said that…” Within minutes, the party had changed themselves into the soldiers’ garb, as two boxer-clad ex-soldiers were pointed towards Lon Lon.
“If you want revenge, know what we were sent by Aisha of Strife Bastion!” Hamdaan yelled to the retreating soldiers. “That’s AISHA OF STRIFE BASTION!”

[Beowulf DW]

Im slightly dissapointed that no one played as a zora, as (in my humble opinion) the Zoras from Ocarina of Time are totally the coolest. The only reason that I havent played one with my group is that only like 3 of us have actually played any of the LoZ games.

Rusl's player here. I was giving serious thought to a Zora monk, because I've played Majora's mask and that was awesome, but we already had a monk, and we were worried about having to much melee and no range.:smallsmile:

[Kane0]

Brilliant! I'll enjoy seeing how this goes.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

This is awesome! Aaaaaaannnd....

http://www.myfacewhen.net/uploads/6421-michael-jackson-eating-popcorn.gif

Subscribed!

EDIT: I am so stealing this plot set-up for the next time I run Zelda. Awesome job with the names for NPCs!

[Kira_the_5th]

This is awesome! Aaaaaaannnd....

http://www.myfacewhen.net/uploads/6421-michael-jackson-eating-popcorn.gif

Subscribed!

EDIT: I am so stealing this plot set-up for the next time I run Zelda. Awesome job with the names for NPCs!

Thank you very much! To be fair, your setup made a lot of this possible.

Episode 5: Dragon Mountain Mines Part 1
Quickly moving through the Marshlands disguised as soldiers, the party was able to arrive at Dragon Mountain without attracting too much attention to themselves. As the group approached the entrance to Dragon Mountain, it became clear that the lights that normally illuminated the settlement were out, and that the doorway to the underground city had recently been broken down. The distant sound of heavy machinery below the earth came as a welcome sound; a sign that the machines being powered by the Fire Medallion were still operating. Aleph spotted movement from inside one of the lookout points on the side of the valley, and so the party proceeded with caution inside the caves.

Finding the normally well-lit interior of the Dragon Mountain caves pitch black, Hamdaan drew out his bottle and used it to bring sunlight into the caves. As the light spread into the dark caverns, it appeared as though the Goron settlement had been abandoned. Saviha looked around a corner only to be assaulted by a sudden attack from the darkness. Saviha laid into the hidden Lizalfos in front of her, but wound up taking a wicked trident strike to the arm in the process. Soon after, the monster’s partner lashed out as well, shattering Boletan’s wards with a single strike. Jibben laid a curse of blindness over Boletan’s attacker, while Saviha continued to beat the living daylights out of the Lizalfos that would dare to wound her. With a final spinning back kick, Saviha launched the first Lizalfos backwards, skewering it upon a stalagmite. The remaining Lizalfos, blinded and surrounded by the party, lashed out in fear and pain. Aleph only narrowly avoided what would have been a horrific blow. The monster, outmatched and outnumbered, quickly fell to the combined assault of the group. The party spread out to investigate the darkened caverns, wary for any more sudden attacks from the darkness. As Jibben went to search one of the rooms of the Goron settlement, Boletan looked over to a small group of boulders that Jibben had completely overlooked. Boletan spoke to the rocks, and upon hearing the voice of another Goron, the boulders uncurled into Gorons. While Jibben had jumped across the room in shock, Boletan asked his comrades what had happened.

“A Hylian in heavy steel armor, Brother.” the Gorons said as the group assembled together in the main hall. “He stormed in here with an army of monsters, and went down below into the mines! Chief Medigoron and some of the warriors went down after him, but they haven’t come back up yet. So, we hid here and waited for him to come back.”

“The mines.” Aleph said, pulling a new torch from his bag. “I presume they've taken out the lights down there as well?”

“I would be pretty surprised if they managed that.” one of the Gorons responded. “The lower mines are lit by…” The Goron stopped. “I don’t remember. Is magma the one below the surface, or above?”

“Below, Brother.” Boletan said.

“Then it’s lit by magma.” the Goron finished.

The party looked each other over nervously before descending into the mines below. Walking down the spiral staircases that led to the mines, surrounded by the heat of the magma and the repetitive droning of heavy Goron machinery. At the bottom of the stairs, the party made their way onto a metal bridge high above a lake of magma below. High grates on either side of the catwalk prevented anyone from falling over the edge. At the crossroads of the bridge, the group found a sealed door in the grate with a plaque over it reading “Machine Room: Do Not Enter Except in Emergencies.” The door was locked, although it seemed to have been recently used. The party spread to the other rooms, searching for both a key to the door, and a relief from the relentless heat boiling up from below.

Boletan made his way to a small door labeled “Supply Room” in Goron. Stepping into the small supply closet, Boletan found a heavy bag made of Dodongo stomach, a few red potions, and a fine set of golden bracers, each bearing the Goron crest. Boletan didn't have long to admire the bracers before hearing the screams of panic and combat coming from the other side of the bridge, where his companions were.

Over in the other room, the rest of the party had accidentally disturbed a nest of Dodongos in a caved in chamber. Both beasts shuffled forward before bathing the party in dragon-fire. Rusl’s Gerudo cloak wrapped around him again, shielding him from the flames. Saviha leapt forward into action, pummeling the nearest Dodongo, finishing up with a stunning blow from her staff which shattered the Dodongo’s thick skull. Rusl leaped upon the opportunity, quickly firing two arrows into the hole that Saviha left behind. The first arrow struck the Dodongo directly in its exposed cranium, while the second arrow struck the first, hammering them both deeper into the Dodongo’s head, and slaying the monster. Boletan arrived soon after, carrying his new Dodongo stomach bag. Inside, he found a small supply of bombs, as well as a set of flint and tinder. Lighting the fuse on the first bomb, he told the others to direct the Dodongo’s attention. Rusl leaped forward, provoking the Dodongo to open its mouth to bite him. The Dodongo’s jaws narrowly missed biting Rusl’s head clean off, catching only Boletan’s thrown bomb. As the beast exploded from within, Aleph delivered a final strike to the Dodongo and finished it off.

The beasts defeated, Boletan and Hamdaan searched through the rubble to find the key to the Machine Room buried under the cave-in while the rest of the group healed their wounds and drank a few of the potions Boletan had picked up from the supply room. After looking over the bracers and a bit of magical testing, Boletan determined that the bracers from the supply closet were, in fact, a pair of Goron Bracers, designed to magically enhance the strength of whoever wore them. The party decided that Jibben needed the bracers most.

Opening the door to the Machine Room, the party was greeted with a nasty surprise. On the other side of the room, amidst the machinery and conveyors carrying chunks of stone, rupees, and slag throughout the complex, was a terrible draconic being holding a mighty bow. As smaller fire snakes emerged from the surrounding machinery, the party readied their weapons and prepared for another battle.

[Kira_the_5th]

Well, this was an eventful week. The finished draft of the journal is just about twice the size of previous entries.

Episode 6: Dragon Mountain Mines Part 2
The first thought that came to the mind of most of the party upon seeing the creature was “Dragon.” Not wanting to miss out on the chance to pummel a dragon to death with her fists, Saviha rushed forward. Saviha attempted to draw the monster’s attention with a series of thrown darts, but the darts merely bounced off the creature’s scaly hide.

“It’s a Salamander!” Boletan yelled. “Their scales resist regular weapons!”

Upon hearing Boletan’s advice, Rusl drew one of the magical arrows that he had won during the Grand Hylian Games, and took aim at the Salamander. The magical arrow pierced the monster’s scales, causing it to shriek in pain.

Jibben hopped up onto one of the room’s many conveyer belts, riding it forward and using the force to drive his sword into one of the smaller Fire Snakes as he rode past. Jibben scored a telling blow, only to realize that he was rapidly moving toward a rock crusher.

While Aleph, Boletan, and Hamdaan dealt with the Fire Snakes, Saviha continued to taunt the Salamander. Falling for the taunt, the Salamander took aim with its bow and fired towards Saviha while swiping its tail at Jibben. Saviha, anticipating the shot, caught the arrow from out of the air and launched it back towards the Salamander, piercing it with another magic arrow. Jibben, however, was not as lucky. He caught the Salamander’s flaming tail straight to the gut, and was nearly knocked off his feet. As Jibben was regaining his balance, Saviha rushed forward, power-sliding under another conveyor belt and driving her staff into the Salamander’s torso. The Salamander resisted her blows, however, and both Saviha and her staff received some nasty charring from the Salamander’s flaming body.

Regaining his balance just in the nick of time, Jibben jumped from his conveyor belt to the one above Saviha. As the new conveyor pulled him past, Jibben played a quick ditty on his Fairy Ocarina and tapped the end of Saviha’s staff, granting it a touch of druidic magic. “There!” he cried as the conveyor pulled him towards the smeltery. “That should help you get through!”

As the attacks mounted, the Salamander quickly found itself hurting badly. Sensing its weakness, Rusl took one more of his magical arrows out of his quiver, and aimed it towards the monster’s heart. With one perfect shot, the arrow sunk deep into the Salamander’s chest, and the beast collapsed to the ground before burning itself to cinders. Jibben rolled off the conveyor belts to the floor with a flop, and took a moment to recover his breath.

As Saviha and Rusl admired their handiwork, Rusl noticed that the creature’s bow had remained undamaged. Taking the weapon into his hands, Rusl gave the bow a once over. The bow, while ancient, seemed to be in perfect condition. What’s more, the string of the bow seemed to be a permanent fixture. Finally, the bow seemed to pulse with righteous energy, feeling almost joyous to be freed from the Salamander’s monstrous clutches. Rusl took the bow with him as the rest of the party moved forward, anxious to reach the Fire Medallion before the leader of these infernal creatures could.

After making their way through a few more long corridors, the party found themselves staring at a massive set of doors reading “Engine Room: Do Not Enter.” Putting his ear to the door, Hamdaan could make out the sound of a fierce battle raging over the sound of machines. Saviha burst open the door, and the party poured into the engine room.

The engine room was massive, carved into the very heart of the volcanic Dragon Mountain. The volcanic crater above them poured the last light of day into the chamber, while below, the magma chamber of the volcano bubbled ominously. At the far end of the massive chamber, beyond the bodies of dozens of fallen Goron soldiers, two figures were locked in combat. A massive Goron with an equally massive hammer fought viciously with a man in crimson armor. While the man looked Hylian, his movements seemed wrong, almost supernaturally fluid and powerful.

Hamdaan, eager to find an enemy who wasn’t immune to fire, quickly fired a scorching ray towards the Hylian. Hamdaan was sorely disappointed, however, when the man seemed to be as completely impervious to the flames as the Salamander before him. The man ignored the ineffective attack, and turned his flaming glaive towards the Goron, slashing into the goron with a series of fierce attacks. While the Goron’s hide absorbed the glaive’s flames, the weapon itself cut deeply into Goron’s rocky flesh. Saviha and Aleph rushed forward, Aleph firing shots from his crossbow, to aid the Goron. Meanwhile, Jibben moved forward and began to speak in the old Sheikah tongue, driving dissonant whispers into their enemy’s mind. At last, this seemed to get his attention.

“FOOLS!” he yelled, turning away from the goron and towards the interlopers. “Do you really think that worms such as yourselves can face a mighty dragon?!” Jibben was skeptical, sarcastically asking “You’re supposed to be a dragon?” His question was answered swiftly, however, when the armored man expelled an intense breath of flame, reaching nearly to the end of the room. While Rusl was able to avoid the brunt of the barrage, Saviha, Jibben, and Aleph were bathed in the dragonfire, and emerged barely standing. Rusl took aim at the man and let loose an arrow from his new bow. As the arrow flew forwards Rusl’s foe, the bowstring seemed to sing. Rusl’s mind suddenly became clear with the weapon’s true power, and he began to notch another arrow.

Boletan rolled into action, wheeling across the room before slamming into the man with a Goron roll. While the man was distracted by the party’s arrival, the massive Goron spun himself around into position flanking with Boletan. “Thanks for the help, brothers! I don’t think I could have lasted much longer alone!” Medigoron brought down his mighty hammer, sinking it deep into the dragon man’s armor. Before he could land another blow, however, the man spun to catch the hammer with his glaive, pushing the hammer to the side and cracking the floor beneath him.

Badly injured by the flames, Saviha considered falling back. The man’s last attack had left her bloody, and she questioned whether she would be able to survive another attack. In a last moment of defiance, however, she rushed forwards and pummeled the dragon man with every last ounce of her strength. And yet, the man still stood.

Seeing his friend in grave peril, Jibben was caught in a bind. Out of magic, barely able to stand, and more than fifty feet away from his wounded friend, Jibben was unable to do anything to help. Unwilling to give up, however, Jibben put the Fairy Ocarina to his lips once again. Playing a quick song, Jibben turned invisible and began making his way forward. Perhaps, he thought, if Saviha were to fall, he would at least be able to pull her out of the fray before she could die.

While Hamdaan and Aleph provided more covering fire for the group with crossbow bolts and magic missiles, Rusl took careful aim into the melee. “You who would attack the innocent and fight for evil ends! Your scheme ends here!” Channeling the power of the Hero of old, Rusl fired his second shot as the bow sang once more. The arrow drilled its way through the man’s armor, forcing him to take a knee.

“This...isn’t...over.” the man said, clutching the arrow wound. “Remember the name Volga, for it will be your death!” With that, the man lept into the air. As he jumped, his form shifted to that of a massive red dragon. With a powerful wingbeat, Volga propelled himself through the vent of the volcano, soaring off into the twilight sky.

“Is the Medallion still safe?” Aleph asked, cautiously putting away his crossbow.

“Yes, thanks to you, little Brothers.” Medigoron replied. Taking a breath, Medigoron put down his hammer and embraced the group in a massive hug.

“Owowowowowowowowow.” Saviha squirmed in the embrace before Medigoron realized his mistake.

“Oops. Sorry about that.” the massive Goron said as he put the group down. “Now then, if I may ask; Brother Boletan, what brings you and your friends here?”

“Well,” Boletan said. “Truth be told, we’re on a mission to protect the Medallions. Someone’s after them, as you could probably tell, so we’re making sure that they don’t fall into the wrong hands.”

“This might be a bit awkward,” Jibben said, putting down the veil of invisibility that the ocarina had cast over him. “But would we be able to take the Medallion with us? I know it powers the machines, but it would be much safer to not keep it in such a place as public as this, unless we want another attack like this.”

“I suppose you’re right, little Sheikah Brother.” Medigoron said, casting a glance to the machine which held the Fire Medallion. “Besides, with the damage that’s been done to the mines and the facilities by those monsters, it’s probably for the best if we shut these down for a while. Brother Boletan, please take this Medallion with you and your friends and keep it safe.” As Boletan carefully removed the Fire Medallion from its casing, the facility fell into a quiet calm as the machines turned off.

“I’d also like you to have this.” Medigoron told Boletan. “Take this hammer, and carry with you the strength of the Goron people.” Medigoron handed his hammer off to Boletan, who carried it with surprising ease.

“Also, if it’s not too much trouble…” Jibben added. “Would we be able to spend the night here? We kind of need to rest and heal up.”

“OF COURSE, LITTLE BROTHER!” Medigoron yelled. “The battle is won, the evil dragon is vanquished, and the Medallion is safe! We’ll head up to the village, honor the fallen, and rest tonight in peace knowing that Dragon Mountain still stands!”

The next morning, Rusl stepped outside the doors of the Goron village to feed and tend to his horse. “There, Thaddeus.” he said, brushing some loose pebbles out of his horse’s mane. “How does that feel, buddy?” Just as he stepped away to admire his handiwork, Rusl was nearly crushed by a massive falling object. Thaddeus reared back and neighed in surprise, and Rusl only just barely escaped the falling mass.

“Farore’s Breath!” Rusl yelled. Looking back to the object that nearly flattened him, Rusl noticed that boulders typically don’t have that many crumpled feathers. After a moment of realization, it dawned on Rusl that the object was a Rito who had fallen out of the sky! The fallen Rito groaned in agony, clutching an arrow wound in his side. “Guys! Get out here!” Rusl yelled to the Goron village. “This Rito needs help!”

Jibben and Aleph soon stuck their heads out of the village gate before running over to the scene. Jibben spoke a few words of healing over the Rito, helping to remove the arrow wound. As he began to set the Rito’s broken bones, he asked “What happened to you?”

“Lon Lon City…” the Rito groaned, wincing slightly as Jibben set his leg. “I bring a message for Aleph Cramhen. All Wardens are needed back in Lon Lon immediately. The city is under siege. I got unlucky, and I took an arrow trying to get out of the city. Be careful out there. As for you, Shiekah,” the Rito said, turning to Jibben. “Thank you for your help. Would you be able to help me inside? I need to rest for a while.”

After bringing the injured postman inside to rest, the party quickly packed and rode for Lon Lon as fast as they could travel. As the party crested a hill on the outskirts of the Hyrule Marshlands, the besieged city of Lon Lon appeared in the distance. Armies were camped around the walls, focused on each gate of the city. Regiments of soldiers patrolled the roads to the city, preventing any way of getting near. Off in the distance, towards the east, Saviha could make out the forms of trebuchets being wheeled into position. Each regiment flew the flag of the Hyrule Highlands.

Rusl coughed awkwardly as the group turned, almost as one, to stare in his direction.

“I promise you, I have absolutely no idea what’s going on.”

“I think I might know.” Boletan said. “Lady Inara has been, shall we say, aggressive in her ruling these last five years. If memory serves, she’s attacked Lon Lon before, suffering some terrible losses due to Lady Vel’s superior leadership and tactics. She’s also been known to make unsuccessful raids on Kakariko, Death Mountain, and I believe even a skirmish or two with Lake Hylia’s Zora population. Knowing her, she probably started planning this attack the moment she learned that Tetra Vel had gone missing. it would explain the increased military presence after we left Ingot, after all.”

“Lady Inara…” Rusl moaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Stop. Being. EVIL!” Rusl looked up, took a breath, and then faced the party. “We need to do something about this. Convince them to retreat, call of the attack. Something.”

“Well, I need to get into the city.” Aleph said, surveying the siege. “After all, the Wardens probably have some sort of backup plan.”

“I have an idea.” Jibben said. “Rusl, you still have your Highlands banner from the tournament, right?”

“Yeah, it should be in my bag.”

“Good. Rusl, I want you to mount your banner and ride me over to the siege camp. We’ll talk with the commander and see if we can’t convince them to make some kind of retreat. Saviha, you take Aleph and the others and get sneak them inside the city. Maybe through the waterway?”

“No good.” Aleph said. “The waterway’s blocked off by a grate. It’s probably the only thing that’s kept them from marching a siege through there already.”

“That’s where we come in!” Boletan said, grabbing Hamdaan into a side hug. “I’ve still got about eight bombs left. We blow the grate, go through, then Hamdaan and I can use magic to mend the grate again.”

Excellent!” Jibben said. “So the plan is: Rusl and I attempt to call off the army, while you guys sneak in and help the Wardens. Let’s hope this works.” While Rusl was finishing mounting his banner to Thaddeus, Jibben called Saviha over.

“Saviha. I...I just want you to know. Don’t go rushing in like you normally do. Please, just, just come back alive.”

“I will.” Saviha said with a smirk. “I’m trusting you, though. Don’t go getting yourself killed trying to keep me out of a fight.”

The two Sheikah embraced before heading their separate ways.

Rusl and Jibben rode across Hyrule field towards the nearest encampment. “What news, messenger?” one of the troops called out as the pair approached.

“We need to speak with the commander of the siege.” Rusl replied in the most authoritative voice he could muster. “Could you direct us to where central command is located?”
“Lady Cecilia is over in the East Camp, directing the siege engines.”

“Thank you, soldier. Carry on.” Rusl gave the soldier a stern glance, then rode off towards the East Camp. Once the soldiers were safely out of line of sight, Rusl looked back at Jibben with a mildly terrified face. Jibben was already returning the same look.

“We might have a problem Jibben.” Rusl said nervously. “I competed with Lady Cecilia to be the Highlands representative. She’s...volatile.”

“Oh, I know.” Jibben replied. “We grew up together. She’s Sheikah. Or was, in any case. She left the clan as a teenager, claiming that she was tired of the Sheikah just waiting around for a new Royal Family to emerge. She left Kakariko claiming that she’d “find the real Royal Family.” Volatile is nothing, that girl’s a warhawk.”

“And we’re trying to convince her to not attack the city.” Rusl mused. “Well, this will end well…”

Meanwhile, the others had finished rigging the explosives to the grate while Saviha stood watch outside. Boletan set off the explosives, careful to muffle the explosions as best as he could. Saviha was relieved to find that they were far enough away that the guards at the gate didn’t hear the detonation. As the party slipped through the waterway and into the city, Saviha caught a much less relieving sight before she ducked through.

At the southern end of Hyrule Field, cresting the hill that the party had earlier, a large army flying the banner of the Hyrule Marshlands came into view, led by Damien Morn Hyrule.


Bonus OoC nonsense:
Jibben: "Have you heard the Healing Word?"
Rito Postman: "Please, for the love of the Goddesses, don't tell me it's 'Bird.'"